YOUNGSTOWN — After being rained out on Friday, the Division V regional final took place in cold, wet and windy conditions at the YSU Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon between South Range and Manchester.

It was a battle that took extra innings to decide, but the Panthers are heading to the state final four after knocking out the Raiders 5-4 in 8 innings.

“This is wonderful,” Manchester coach Jim Morehart said. “We have state championships in ’79, ’90 and ’01. The last time we made it to the final four was in 2014. We just kept battling. South Range is a good team. They have a good program. They just kept coming after us, and we just kept responding. It was a great game.”

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, and they made it 2-0 in the top of the fourth after a home run by Cayleigh Bowe.

Then, the Raiders got on the board when junior Solena DeJesus drove in a run to make it 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth.

Manchester made it 3-1 when Alli Hodgkinson connected on a home run over the left field fence in the top of the sixth.

However, South Range tied it up 3-3 in the bottom half of the inning when senior Giada Pauline had a RBI single.

Neither team tallied a run in the seventh, but the Panthers took a 5-3 lead when Kailyn Eshbaugh hit a home run in the top of the eighth.

South Range had their chances throughout the ballgame. The Raiders loaded the bases on three walks, but failed to score in the bottom of the second.

Junior Gabby Spooner had a lead-off single in the bottom of the seventh, but she was thrown out while attempting to steal second base.

Then, the Raiders loaded the bases again in the eighth after a pair of walks and an infield single by junior Ashley Rupert. DeJesus drove in the Raiders’ last run with a sacrifice fly, but they failed to put the tying run across the plate.

Rupert went the distance in the circle by tossing a complete game for South Range, which finishes the season 23-10.

“She was awesome,” South Range coach Jeff DeRose said. “She was injured pretty much the entire beginning of the season. Jayli Wilt was our number one pitcher to start the season. She had 27 wins last season. She also suffered an injury. So, we turned to Ashley to see what we had. She took the bull by the horns and did a great job. She’s a really good spin pitcher. She did an amazing job for us this season.”

The Raiders were looking for their third consecutive trip to the state final four.

“We had nine losses about three weeks ago,” DeRose said. “After a loss against Tallmadge, our motto was ‘no more losses’ and that’s exactly what happened up until today. We had our chances a couple of times today to win the game. We didn’t get the breaks, or the hits, when we needed them. Otherwise, I think we could have come out on top today.

“We expect to be right back in this position again next year. I don’t think there’s any doubt. We’re losing three very talented seniors (Pauline, Wilt and Riley DeCiancio). We’re going to be getting a couple of girls back from injury. Katie Dance will get into a full time starting role. There’s a pretty good freshman class coming up. I fully expect to be back in the regionals.”